


show don't tell

by LottieAnna



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Friendship Bracelets, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Summer Camp, Very fluffy, bitty is a camp counselor it's mad cute, slight closet angst, spoiler alert these boys are in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 02:24:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7826551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieAnna/pseuds/LottieAnna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bitty loves friendship bracelets, Jack loves Bitty, Bitty loves Jack, Jack loves Bitty's bracelets</p>
            </blockquote>





	show don't tell

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I'm a camp counselor. First fic ever published on ao3, and I'm happy that it's for this fandom :D beta'd by my partner

Every summer, Bitty was a camp counselor, and every summer, he forgot the perks of the job until it began: Bitty loved friendship bracelets. He probably loved them more than the kids, and the kids also seemed to really love them.

The summer after his first year at Samwell, he had made a rainbow keychain out of flat plastic string; it was a difficult stitch, but to get all six colors in he’d needed something fancy. He kept it hidden in his room until he got back to school, wearing it on his ID case all sophomore year. It was a calling card, a small gesture of pride reminding him that he was finally who he wanted to be: out, happy, supported. 

He didn’t like having to hide it when he got back home. He didn’t like that when he stepped off the plane he had a moment of panic remembering he hadn’t yet removed it. He kept it on his ID case, because he didn’t use that in Madison anyway, and so the whole apparatus remained in a zipper compartment on his suitcase. The keychain was part of his Samwell self, and though Bitty knew that every iteration of himself, moving forward, would be out, Georgia felt like a huge step back for a boy who had come so far in college. 

This summer, and this particular arts and crafts period, Bitty found himself gravitating towards the embroidery thread, and the light blue color the camp had lying around made him think of Jack, because…he couldn’t quite place why. He blinked, and then noticed that with the yellow, the blue could make a very good Falcs-themed bracelet. Without any more thought, Bitty cut the strings, tied them together, and found a seat among the campers. 

“Howdy, y’all, how are the bracelets comin’ along?” Bitty asked the group of 9- and 10-year-olds surrounding him. 

“I’m makin’ mine for Caroline, and Caroline told me this morning in carpool that she was makin’ one for me, and I told her that my favorite color was blue, and hers is red, so I’m makin’ this one purple ‘n red, and she’s makin’ one that’s purple ‘n blue, because red plus blue is purple!” said Nat, one of the day campers. 

“That’s a great idea for you and Caroline! Y’all’ll have friendship bracelets that you made each other!” 

“No, we already have friendship bracelets, because mine has a charm with half a star, and hers has the other half. See? The charm says BFF.” 

“That means they’re BFF bracelets, Nat, not friendship bracelets,” said Branden, a 10-year-old who took great pride in being the oldest in the group. 

“Nuh uh!” said Nat. 

“You’ll have two bracelets to show that you’re friends, then,” supplied Bitty, sensing an argument building. Nat had a lot of energy, and Branden liked to show off that he was smarter than the other kids; the two of them got along well, but were prone to arguments. “I like those colors, Branden! Why’d you choose ‘em?” 

“‘Cause I’m reading Harry Potter, and these are the colors of Gryffindor house.” replied Branden.

“I like the colors on your bracelet, Mr. Bittle!” said Grace, a returning camper who loved arts and crafts. “Are you making it for your best friend?” 

“I think so! I play hockey at school, so a lot of my friends are hockey players. My friend Jack just started playing on a new team, and these are his new team’s colors.” The sentence was so easy and simple and refreshingly true. Kids in Madison, Georgia didn’t know much about professional sports beyond football. They wouldn’t know who Jack Zimmermann was, or who the Falconers were. Bitty was just making a bracelet for his friend. 

“Why doesn’t your friend play on your hockey team?” asked Grace. 

“Well, he used to, but I play on my school’s hockey team, and he plays for the NHL, which is professional.” 

“What are your team’s colors, Mr. Bittle?” asked Nat. 

“Red and white! Just like my hat!” Bitty bowed his head to show off the Samwell logo, which prompted Nat to grab it off his head and place it on hers. 

“You’re not getting this back until the end of the day unless you promise to play hockey with us later.” The other kids nodded in agreement. 

“Please play hockey with us Mr. Bittle!” said Grace. “I wanna play hockey on the middle school team, and I need to start practicing now.” 

“That’s field hockey, Grace. Bitty plays ice hockey,” said Branden. 

“He still knows more about hockey than you!” Nat snapped back. 

“How can we play hockey? There’s no ice here!” Bitty said. 

“Well, you can teach us the rules without ice,” said Grace. 

“I’ll think about it, but focus on the bracelets now. It’s crafts time, not hockey time,” responded Bitty. Really, though, he was already planning on asking for access to the sports equipment shed, and wondering if any other kids would be interested in a mini game of field hockey. As he pictured relaying this story later to Jack, he smiled. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The familiar sound of a Skype connection rang through the air as Bitty’s screen welcomed Jack’s face, his expression melting into a warm smile that made Bitty feel bubbly and excited inside. 

“Jack! I have a story that you’ll love, I actually wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget.” 

“Oh, really? What kind of story?” 

“Well, there’s hockey in it.” 

“Hockey?” Jack’s expression turned faux-confused for a second. “That’s that sport they play on ice, right?”

Bitty rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I figured you’d heard of it, Chirpy McChirpster.” 

Jack chuckled. “That’s a new one.” His smile went from mischievous to warm. “So, tell me this hockey story.” 

Bitty couldn’t help but smile back at Jack. “Okay, well, today during arts and crafts, the kids got talking about hockey, and I told them that I play on a team, so they insisted on playing a game! So I was plannin’ on having them play field hockey, but then it started to rain, so we had to stay in the gym building, but they’d just polished the floors, so I told them that if they were really careful, I’d let them slide around in their socks, and I found a broom and one of those soft balls they use for dodgeball, you know the ones? Well, they hit ‘em at me with the broom, and they all kept tryin’ to do tricks. It was the cutest thing!” 

“Oh,” said Jack, and then, “Aw, that’s so sweet. Why were they talking about hockey?” 

“Oh, it was arts and crafts, and… oh! I almost forgot!” Bitty fished around in his pocket. “They had friendship bracelet materials out, and I saw the light blue and it reminded me of--” Bitty flushed, and realized that the blue hadn’t reminded him of the Falconers at all-- it had reminded him of Jack’s eyes, which even on the pixelated Skype display, were gorgeous and piercing. “The blue looked like, uh, Falconers’ blue, so inspiration struck, and… ta-da!” Bitty held up the bracelet proudly. 

“Wow, Bits. That’s incredible. Wow, you’re… wow. I don’t know what to say.” 

Jack was blushing, which made Bitty blush. “It’s just a bracelet, sweetheart. I figured I’d give it to you when I go down to Providence later this summer. I told the kids it was a friendship bracelet.” 

“You’re so sweet, Bits. I… I miss you.” 

Bitty felt overwhelmingly happy and warm. “I miss you too. At least you’ll have a bracelet to remember me by, soon.” 

“You should, uh, wear it, in the meantime.” 

“Are you sure? It’ll get all worn down.” 

“I know, but… all the boys have Falcs jerseys, and I like the idea of you having something… special. For, uh, the team. That the others don’t have.” 

Bitty flushed all over. “Sweetheart…” 

“Is that dumb? You’re just, uh, special. I hope you know that.” 

“I… so are you. You’re so special, Jack.” 

There was a pause, which neither of them knew how to fill without stating the obvious: “I love you.” But they hadn’t said that to each other yet, and Bitty didn’t know about Jack, but he wanted it to be in person so he could look into his eyes, or jump him and kiss him to the ground, or whatever else might suit the moment. 

“Well, I’ll tie it on my wrist now.” 

“I wish I could do it for you.” 

Bitty fastened the bracelet in place, then held his wrist up to the camera. “Hey, remember that time Chowder made Nursey and Dex D-Man bracelets to try and help them get along?”

The conversation went on from there, and Bitty rubbed his thumb along the grain of the stitch the entire time. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day at camp, they made bracelets again during arts and crafts, and Bitty grabbed red and white. 

“Is that for your team colors, Mr. Bittle?” asked Grace. 

“Yep! I love my school colors.” 

“Are you gonna give that to your friend who plays for the different team now?” asked Nat. 

“Yes! I told him last night about you guys wanting to play hockey, and he was super excited.” 

“Why?” asked Branden.

“I think he was more excited to hear about people liking hockey. Hopefully it doesn’t rain again today, because then we can play a real game on the field.” 

“Can we play against other teams?” asked Grace. 

“If we find enough kids.”

“Oh, maybe Caroline can play with us! Can kids from other groups play on our team?” Nat asked. 

“No, we should play against other groups,” Branden said. 

“I’ll talk to some other counselors and see what I can work out, okay?” said Bitty. “I think we’re gonna want to finish up these bracelets, because we’re learning a new stitch soon.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the summer passed in a blur, with Bitty crying every time his campers left and excited to meet the new ones on the first day of each session. He Skyped with Jack every night, only skipping if it was too late and Jack insisted they both get some sleep. They talked, or sometimes just did what they would normally be doing, but with the added comfort of the other’s company. Even digitally, Bitty felt Jack’s warm glow. 

Pretty soon, camp was over for good, and Bitty was packing up to go visit Jack in Providence for a week-- Jack’s birthday week-- before Jack drove him up to Samwell and helped him move into the Haus. 

He felt a little nervous-- he had never been to Providence, and while they had spent good quality time as a couple in Madison (Bitty didn’t think he’d ever get over the thrill of thinking of him and Jack as a couple) they hadn’t had much… privacy. Bitty knew that there wouldn’t be any pressure, but he had never had a boyfriend to visit before, and had certainly never spent a week in the luxurious apartment of his professional athlete boyfriend. 

Mostly, Bitty was looking forward to cooking dinner for the two of them in Jack’s kitchen. And to Jack’s King-sized bed. 

Bitty flew into the airport near Providence, and Jack had insisted that he take a cab from the airport; sure enough, waiting near baggage claim was a driver holding a sign reading “Mr. Bittle.” Quickly, Bitty realized that when Jack talked about a taxi, it meant something very different from Bitty talking about a taxi. The car was large, black, heavily air conditioned, and had miniature water bottled and mixed nuts in the backseat. Bitty didn’t know if this was how Jack travelled, or if he was doing something special for Bitty; either way, he texted Jack to thank him for the absolutely ridiculous transportation. Jack responded with “:-) Hope there’s no traffic.” 

My gosh, thought Bitty, my boyfriend is a closet 40-year-old. 

When the cab pulled up to Jack’s apartment complex, Bitty saw Jack waiting outside. He felt his face break into a grin before he could help it. He opened the door to the car and walked to Jack as quickly as he could, while appearing nonchalant. 

“Hey,” Jack said, softly. 

“Hi,” responded Bitty. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, or any part of his body. 

Jack walked towards the trunk, and Bitty realized the driver had already begun unloading his things. After his suitcases were safe on the sidewalk and the driver adequately thanked and tipped, Bitty turned back to Jack. 

“Well, thank you for having me, Mr. Zimmermann.” 

Jack’s eyes focused on Bitty’s lips. “It’s my pleasure. Let’s get your stuff upstairs, eh?” 

Jack took two of Bitty’s large bags at once, carrying them like they weighed nothing. Bitty swooned. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t stuff yourself in one of these and save yourself the cost of a plane ticket,” said Jack in the elevator. 

Bitty glared at him. “Unbelievable. Un-freakin’-believable. I am here for not five minutes before you chirp me, COMPLETELY unprompted.” 

“I’m sorry. It’s not my fault you’re so… compact.” 

“I am five feet and six and a half inches of pure muscle, sir. You’re not the only athlete here.” 

“Oh, I’m not doubting that your body is more than capable.” 

“Jack Laurent Zimmermann, are you flirting with me?” 

“It’s the only way I chirp, Bits.” 

At that moment, the elevator doors opened and the two of them made their way to Jack’s door, and soon, Bitty found himself entering Jack’s apartment. 

“Good heavens, does this have two floors?” 

Jack shrugged. “It’s a really nice place to live. The kitchen is upstairs, if you want to check it out.” 

“If I want to check it out? I’m beginning to think you don’t know me at all.” 

Jack began to follow Bitty up the stairs but Bitty stopped when he felt Jack grab his wrist. 

“The bracelet you made.” 

“I haven’t taken it off since.” 

Without thinking, Jack leaned forward and kissed it, right on the part Bitty liked to fidget with. “I love that you wear this. Wow, Bits, I…” Jack trailed off, and Bitty found himself staring into Jack’s eyes. 

“Jack… I’m standing in your gorgeous apartment, that you’re letting me stay in for a week, and you’re happy that I’m wearing a bracelet that I made myself?” 

“I love that you… carry this around with you. That you, uh, think of me. Or at least have me. On your wrist, I mean, and, um.” 

Bitty turned red. “Well, I, uh… I made you one.” Fishing into his pocket, Bitty pulled out his wallet. “The kids asked me why you had new colors and thought that I should make one in our old colors. They’re pretty smart.” He took the bracelet out and held it to Jack.

Jack took it in his hands and began to examine it, his gaze switching between the bracelet and the boy in front of him. “Bits... “ he said, his voice shaking. “You… made me something.” 

“It’s your birthday, and we’re together, and… of course I made you something.” 

“We’re together. It still seems too good to be true sometimes.” 

“I know.” 

Jack looked up. “You do?” 

“I… I’ve never… you’re so… dedicated. And so talented. And so generous, and kind, and you still act surprised whenever I notice. I don’t know how I landed such a thoughtful, incredible boyfriend.” 

The smile on Jack’s face might have been the gentlest thing Bitty had ever seen. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you call me your boyfriend.” 

“It still doesn’t feel real to me, sometimes, but it is.” 

“It is.” That was when Jack leaned in and kissed him, slowly and properly; it felt so good Bitty could explode, and it was all he could do to kiss back. 

“I love you,” murmured Jack, in between kisses. 

Bitty heard it, and his heart leapt. He didn’t know if Jack was too lost in the moment to realize what he’d said, so he kept kissing him. “Jack…” 

“Bits. God. Bits.”

They kissed for a long time; It was Jack who ended it. 

“Let’s go… upstairs.” 

“Yeah. Upstairs. Kitchen” 

Making their way upstairs, BItty turned around and saw Jack on the staircase; and he looked absolutely perfect. His eyes were piercing. 

“I love you too, Jack” 

Jack almost tripped running up the stairs to kiss Bitty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, after Jack had fallen asleep, Bitty grabbed the bracelet from Jack’s nightstand and tied it to his wrist. Bitty kissed it. Jack woke up as Bitty’s lips met his wrist, and he smiled. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Bitty hated the closet, even when he went back to Samwell. He hated pretending that he’d never kissed Jack. He hated that he didn’t get the same satisfaction from digging out his ID case and seeing the rainbow keychain, because he was keeping a secret. Not that he was pretending to be straight, of course, but he wanted to tell the boys, so Ransom and Holster would stop trying to set him up, so Chowder would stop apologizing every time he mentioned Farmer, so he wouldn’t have to keep lying to Lardo when she hesitantly asked him how he was doing. 

The bracelet helped, though. 

The team didn’t think the bracelet was special, especially since Bitty had a couple of them. One was from Nat, who had decided to make their impromptu hockey team’s colors yellow and purple, and one was from Branden, who made one in green and gray, the colors of the camp. No one thought anything of it, because camp counselors wore friendship bracelets. The Falconers one was on its own, because it was special to him. No one needed to know about it. 

Jack’s bracelet got a little more notice, though, and when a reporter asked about it, his only reply was “These are the Samwell colors. A former teammate made it for me, to show his support.” Bitty got a few chirps about it, but claimed that his kids had insisted on sending a bracelet to Bitty’s awesome professional athlete friend. 

The bracelets were out there, with nothing to hide, showing Bitty that he loved Jack and that Jack loved him too; and for now, it was enough for Bitty

**Author's Note:**

> I pictured the lanyard keychain as the fluted columns stitch, and also, I did not realize until I was looking at the "PB&J" comic that Jack's apartment has stairs in it!


End file.
